How-To Geek

How much of your life is recorded online? Spend a moment considering this and it’s likely to be a terrifying idea. You may not consider yourself the type of person to keep a journal, or even a blog, but over the years you have probably posted thousands of words on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

There are numerous modern apps that are a built into Windows 8 and they are featured prominently on the Start screen. It may well be the case that you don’t want to use them because they just aren’t apps you’re interested in, or it may be that you have found a better alternative.

The Growl notification system is something that will be familiar to Mac users, but it is something that is also available for Windows. It is an incredibly versatile tool that can be used to monitor system and program notifications in a variety of ways, including remotely.

There are lots of tools that can be used to automate various tasks on your computer, and we have looked at how the likes of Wappwolf and IFTTT can help to automate your online life. AutomateIt brings very much the same idea to Android, making it possible to automate your phone or tablet in a variety of ways.

If you’ve bought a PC with Windows 8 installed, you may be surprised to find that there is not quite as much storage space available as you would expect based on the size of your hard drive. This could be for a couple of reasons, including a Windows recovery image occupying several gigabytes.

Cloud storage is now so commonplace that there are not many people that do not take advantage of storing files online. There are a huge number of services to choose from, including Google Drive and Dropbox, and Cloudy is a free extension for Chrome that makes it possible to attach cloud-based files to emails.

The Windows 8 Start screen. It’s a very divisive feature of the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, and the widespread dislike for the way it looks and works is demonstrated by the staggering number of tools for tweaking it that sprang up almost immediately. If you’re not happy with the way the Start screen works, there are plenty of ways you can customize it, and here we take a look at some of the best tools.

If you are running Windows 8, hit the Windows key and L at the same time. What do you see? It should be the lock screen complete with the date, time and weather. What format do the date and time take? It’s almost certainly the same as the clock in your taskbar – if you have opted to use 24 hour clock format, it will be used in both places. But this doesn’t have to be the case; customization is possible.

Launchers. They’re not exactly in short supply in Google Play. While there are many to choose from, each with a slightly different approach to things, they all tend to work in the same general way. The same cannot be said of Trigger, which makes it possible to put your device’s touchscreen to the best possible use by using gestures to launch apps, access settings and more.

There are a number of ways you can tweak Windows, whether you are looking to improve performance, iron out irritations, improve security or change the appearance of something you dislike. Some settings can be changed through the Control Panel, some by using a third party tweaking tool, or you may prefer to dabble in a little registry editing. But if you have the Professional version of Windows 8 there is also Group Policy Editor and here we have rounded up ten top tweaks you can apply in this way.

Whatever platform you look at – iOS, OS X, Android, Windows, Linux – there is some form of software store available. Android users have been able to enjoy Google Play (under various guises) for some time, and Apple’s App Store is well known even outside of tech circles. Microsoft was a little slow to join the party, but Windows 8’s Store means everyone is now on the same page. But is the store that’s built into Windows 8 the best option?

Printing out web pages you want a hard copy of can be a little hit and miss. Unlike other documents, it is not easy to tell exactly how many pieces of paper will be needed, and whether or not there will be any awkward clipping. Add to this the problem of wasting ink by printing out unwanted images and ads, and it is little wonder that many people resort to copying and pasting into a word processor. But by using browser add-ons and bookmarklets, you can gain control over what you are printing.

We could all do with some extra screen space from time to time. It can be a battle to manage all of the windows you have open at any one time. Having a second monitor is not something that everyone is able to do, be it in terms of space or finances, but if you are packing a tablet you already have your second screen ready to go.

Backing up our PCs is something we are all used to. It’s not something many people relish, but once an automated task has been set up, it is something that can be forgotten about until your suffer from hard drive failure or another disaster and need to think about restoring files. But things are not quite so easy when it comes to Android.

Chrome has built up quite a loyal following over the years, but while it is an adept web browser it does suffer from problems when it comes to tab management. It does not take long for Chrome’s memory usage to creep up as you load up more and more tabs, and start times can be extremely slow. Using the The Great Suspender extension you can get things back under control.

Wireless internet connections are far more prevalent than they used to be, but there are still times when you may find that you are stuck using a wired connection and want to use it wirelessly — for instance, at a hotel with only wired internet but you want to get your tablet online.

We recently looked at how you can make it easier to manage multiple inboxes in Gmail using the Multiple Inboxes Lab feature. This is a non-standard feature and it’s far from being the only one available to you. In fact there are numerous hidden features that can help you to get more from Gmail.

If you have upgraded to Office 2013, or Office 365, you may have run into problems opening files that have been emailed to you. Try to open a Word file you have received as an email attachment and you are likely to find that Word not only refuses to open the files, but fails to provide much in the way of help.

There are plenty of things you can do with your online storage accounts. They can be used for fairly everyday things such as backing up your data, syncing files between computers or sharing files with other people. But by turning to Wappwolf you can make your cloud storage work for you, interacting with other online accounts you may have.

Widgets are wonderfully versatile additions to your Android home screen. They can provide access to various features of the apps you have installed, make it easier to access settings, display information about your device, and much more. Using Ultimate Custom Widget, you can turn dev and create your own widget without the need to code a single line.

Recently we took a look at how you can take Gmail further by enabling some of the extra features that are available in the experimental Labs section. If you use Google Calendar to manage your schedule, there are numerous tools and options that can be added through the use of Calendar-specific Labs. Today, we will take a look to see just what’s available.

Office 2013 is now upon us and, much like Windows 8, there are plenty of people who are unhappy about the way things look. One aspect of the interface that has caused confusion, annoyance and derision is the decision to completely capitalize the tab labels in the ribbon.  If this is something that offends your eyes, it can be addressed in a few easy steps.

So, you want to head to bed… time to power down the PC and call it a night. But wait… that download hasn’t finished yet. You could stay up and wait for it to finish, but then you will miss out on sleep. You could leave it running, but that’s a waste of electricity. Or you could do is turn to Shutter, which gives you a couple of alternative options.

After the hubbub surrounding the release of Windows 8 had died down, Microsoft had another software staple to unleash – the latest version of Office. But this time things are a little different from previous years. There’s not only the choice between Home and Professional to make, but also the Office 365 and Office 2013 variants; but what is the difference?

One of the great things about time-shifting your television viewing is that you are able to watch the shows you love at a time that suits you. Just because you have an appointment on Wednesday evening there’s no need to miss out on your favorite program, particularly if you have a TV card installed – just record and watch at your leisure.